(Hint taken.)
Suddenly, Nikki pulled back with a wince. "Wait, I can't do this right now."
Dustin looked surprised. "Don't you like it?"
"Of course, I do," Nikki sighed, giving him a smile. "But my family's waiting for ice cream. If I take too long, they might send Max after me, and believe me, you don't want to deal with Max."
"Max?" Dustin asked, looking uncertain. "Who's Max?"
"My twin."
"Twin?" The boy's eyes brightened. "There's two of you? Would Max be short for Maxine or Mackenzie, by any chance?"
Nikki gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. "My twin brother, doofus."
"Oh," Dustin replied, trying to hide his mild disappointment. "Right."
His reaction did not escape Nikki, though. Rather than being offended, she felt a bit bad, for whatever reason. Perhaps, it would have been nice to have an identical twin, knowing how much people found them intriguing.
A niggling feeling started in the back of her mind.
Wait, didn't I have an identical twin at one point? But that sounds crazy. That jerk can only dream of looking like me, or being half as fun. Instead, he always has to hassle me and get in the way of anything good.
Nikki mulled over that thought. Then again, with the Chronovac, perhaps she could deal with both those problems.
Suddenly, Nikki spotted Max peeking out from behind a nearby pier. "Well, speak of the devil. He's already here."
Seeing that he was discovered, Max awkwardly emerged from hiding and approached the two, smirking. May as well see his handiwork from up close.
Watching him approach, Nikki could see that he had something behind his back. Well, wasn't this convenient. Thinking over her options, she decided to...